Reversible coupling.



J. H. MACALPI NE. REVERSIBLE COUPLING,

1,293,647. P i f 15119- V a q M n' V l I; Q imp I//%AHI/ @WW M w 51 a "J- \o r s INVENTOR.

HIS ATTORNEY IN FACI J. H. MACALPINE.

REVERSIBLE COUPLING,

APPLICATION FILED APR.|9 1916. 1,293,647. Patented Feb. 4, 1919 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2 'INVENTOR. ANN Q-S RM HIS ATTORNEYIN FACT J. H. MACALPINE.

REVERSIBLE COUPLING.

APPL'ICATION FILED APRJQ. ms.

Patentd Feb. 4, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3 R O T N E V m HIS ATTORNEY IN FACT,

n: mum: puns ca. puomuvua. wasumnfou. u c.

J. H. MACALPINE.

REVERSlBLE COUPLING. APPLICATION F lLED APR. 19, 1916.

1,293,647. Patented Feb. 4, 1919.

4 SHEETSSHEET 4.

M, I HIS ATTORNEY IN FACT NIT Ds ATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. MAoALPINEQoE PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, AssmNoETo THE wEsTINGe HoUsE GEAR- & DYNAMOME'IER COMPANY, OF EAsT PITTSBURGH, rENNsYLvANIA,

A CORPORATION or rENNsYLvANIA.

EEvEEsIBLE oournme. I

To all whom it may concern Be it known that- I, JOHN acitizen of the United States, and a resieither direction.

dent of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have made a new and useful Invention in Reversible Couplings, of which the following is a specification. j i

This invention relates to couplings and more particularly to couplings 'for shafts capable of transmitting relatively large powers.

An object of the invention is to produce a new and improved coupling which is ,of simple construction andis simpler to assembile and dismantle than other couplings of a similar character now in use and known tome.

An object of the invention is to produce a new and improved coupling, in which means are provided for permitting lateral movement of one member of the coupling, with relation to the other, and for permitting an gular motion of the axis of one shaft connected to the coupling relatively to the axis of the other shaft connected to the coupling.

1 A further object. isto produce a relative]? e employed in marine installations an is effective in transmitting power while the power developing apparatus is These and other objects, which will be made apparent throughout the further de scription of the invention,-are attained by means of a coupling embodying the features herein described'and illustrated.

In the drawlngs accompanying. and form-'1 ing a part hereof, Figure .1 is a transverse sectional view along the line- 1 1 of Fig. 2

illustrates one embodiment of my invention.

i Fig. 2 is asectional view along the'line Fig. 3 is a fragmental elevation of a link I of strut which forms a detailof my inven? tion, and is shown in connection with a sectional view of a strut pad; the scale of this view is enlarged for convenience of illustration.

F'g.4 is an end view of the linker strut H. MAGALPINE,

operated in pad.

Fig. 2 and illustrates a modification of my invention. 1 a

I Patented Feb.4, 1919. Applicationfiled April 19,1916. Serial No.92,146. i

ing between-the strut and its cooperating Fig. 5 is a sectional view corresponding to My present invention is particularly adapted to be employed in connection with reduction gearing such as is illustrated in Patent No. 946,455 issued to me and George W. Melville, on January 11, 1910. When so employed one. member of the coupling is preferably connected to the flexible shaft of the pinion, forming a part of the gearing,

while the other member is connected to the shaft of the driving, apparatus. With such an arrangement the coupling is for all prac-j tical purposes, a flexible connection between thedriving apparatus and the gearing.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, the coupling includes two cooperating circular members or disks 6 and 7, the one being keyed or otherwise rigidly mounted on a driving shaft '8, "and the other being keyed or otherwise rigidly mounted on a driven shaft 9. When the coupling is employed in connection with a reduction gearing the member or disk 7 is mounted on the flexible shaft ofthe pinion of the gearing. The disk 6 is provided with two laterally projecting lugs 6 and 6 which are located diametrically I opposite each other and are adapted to cooperate with similar lugs 7? and 7*, on the disk7, in engaging power transmitting links or struts 10. Thelugs on each disk are located at or near the periphery and when the coupling is assembled the lugs on one disk are locatedbetween the lugs on theother disk.

With this arrangement oflugs two sets of struts of two struts each are employed. set is effective in transmitting power while the coupling is driven in one direction and the other set is eflective in transmitting power while the coupling is driven in the reverse direction. The struts located between the lugs 6 and 7, and the lugs 6 and 7" may, for convenience of description, be

termed the ahead set, and the. other may be termed the reverse set.

struts As illustrated,each strut 10 is provided with two heads 11, which, asshown, are per tions of spheres and are adaptedto seat in cooperating recesses formed in pads 12. One

One

, ring 12 for preventing the pads becoming; dislodged; from their mounting recesses.

of thepads-1'2, in*the caseKof each strut, is mounted on a lug of the disk 6, whlle the other is mounted ona lug of the disk 7.

Each" pad isiforme'd of a metal adapted to: provide a suitable" bearing for its cooperating strut and is so arranged that it maybe drawn transversely, with relation to the disk on which it is mounted, for the purpose of disengagingthe strut. As illustrated, each pad is located in a recess, formed within its mounting lug, which eXtends,,i-n the formof an aperture, through the disk proper. Each. pad? is. of sufficient.lengthr to; extend the entire length of its mounting recess and aperture/rand is. shown provided at its outer end: with. a tapped. hole- 13,, adapted. to .re-

ceive an eyebolt or other suitable drawing tool. Eachdiskis providediwith a retaining These rings: may be formed inhalves to fa cilitate removing. them. Eachv pad.-l2 maybe tapered tOW-aId-ioneend of its niounting.

lug or. each.may-b e provided with a head'or. any other means to-prevent it frommovlng inwardly. through the recess.

Intheoperation-off dismantling the coupling, the =-retainingrings- 1-2 arev removed; the pads cooperating withione set; of struts-1 are then: withdrawn, each padrbeing with-p drawn; through the' aperture formed; in its mounting disln, This. causesthe cooperating struts to -be turned about.their,trans-.

I verse axes andalso frees them' from the head engaging recesses formed in the pads- In! couplings formed in accordance with, myinvent1on-, ;in.wh1'ch the d sks are located;

relatively closetogetheras compared to the length of? the struts; it maybe necessary. to]

provide recesses in: each disk. for receiving,

theheadsof the struts during the operation: ofawithdrawing: the pads Inthe drawing I.have shown 1 two semi-spherical recesses 14 in.each disk each arranged. to receive one.

head of one struteofi-the. reverse set, After; theFpads have'been. withdrawn;

areremoved. One diskroflthe couplingrmay then be i turned for the purpose .of disenoperativerelationc-witli the other-2f In accomplishing .this:-I .may turn .both .disks to such.v a. posit1onzthat v the lugs on theqone to bej m d/.13 1 heated i her n l g lubricating thus freeing. the heads of one set i of! struts,-. these struts.

whereas the" lugs on the other are located in avertical line. The former disk can then be lifted out of cooperative relation with the other disk' 'and its lugs will pass"'free of the upper lug onf-thejjriemaining disk.

The' arrangement of the" apparatus" will determine whether the disk to be removed is moved horizontally orotherwisepast the remaining disk. This arrangement is particularly advantageous when one o'f-t'he disks of; the coupling is-connected to a turbine shaft and the other is comiected to the shaft of a pinion formingapartof the reductiongearing,r such as is illustrated in the patent to which" I. have referred; jsince the-1 pinionand one disk of; the coupling may be readily removed without. the necessity of removing either disk from. its mounting shaft.

Another feature. ofthe' invention is t that the position of the struts may be so selected,-

with relation; to the center of rotation of the coupling,-,that the. resultant of the driv ing force, transmitted; by eachv strut, and of the centrifugal force, at a deterlnined speed and power, occasioned bythe rotation of each strut will be normal-to the surface of each strut supporting. pad,-as indicated by the featheredarrowin ig; 2. With this arrangement the pads can be'setat the Edesired angle so that the struts will be held in place within the'headengaging. recesses of thepads during the-operation of starting.

.Another shown in Fig. 1, lubricantis deliveredto the. annular seriesv of apertures or ducts 16, formed in the disk 7 by means" oflubricant delivery pipe 17 Asillustrated in Fig. 1,

the outer ends of the ducts 1'6 1 are. adapted frgin the, pipe, for an: indefinitely short period'during each revolution of: the disk. These passages areinclinedtoward thepefeature of my inventionis the means' for def]iveringv lubricant 1 tov thebearing surfaces of the struts. xA's i eve ast-" h dis -en e th r 17 .and; consequently each. receives I lubricantv ri'phery of the; disk and. consequently centrif'ug'al: force aids lth'e'jdelivery oflubricant tliroug them; .Thelubricahti reaches" the interior OftheeoupHhg; in'the' fbrmlo ffspra'. and onsequentl'y is deposited on alllof the" nmyingiparts. r Each strutga's shown, isprovided in each head f with .a seri'je' "sf of lubricant distributing grooves 18, the iniierends of which" are; adaptedto. receive lubricant. sprayed from 1 the passages 16 and: the outer endoffeach.

groove communicates with a passage'lsf "v ex-- tending throughrthefspherical portionof. the.

strut. [The centrifugal force acting on the.

lubricant spray will. tend to'. move Itlie'lubrr' ai 1i 2' 1 sometimes. -befrom the passages 18. apa sages-18 and sometimcs thejifeverse;

I I greater radius fr oin the shaft. axis consequently the flow. oflubricant. will e d? e r t reiterat s These reas es -.1?

deliver the lubricant to the bearing face bei tween the-pad and the head portion and each is so formed that it will tend to resist a. rotary IIlOt1OI1.0fth6"StI'l1l;'abOHtitSlOIlgltH- dinal axisin onedirection and to facilitate rotation about this axis and in the direction indicated by the arrow inFig; 4. The inw *clination of the grooves 118wil1-also tend to pads. i y it y I In order to insure anequaly distribution l of the lubricant over the bearing surface,

l I have. also provided supplementary 'means mits power. This means, as illustrated in Fig. 3, consists of a collar 20, provided with 2 0 ,aseriesof inclined notches 21. These notches" p produce this: rotary motion of the'struts; 10

when there is any sliding between the sphericalbearing surfaces of the struts-and on each strut which will tend to cause it to turn about its 1 longitudinal axis as it trans setup an unbalanced component of air pressure on each strut, by reason of the fact that; the strut'is revolving at high speed about theshaft axisand, inasmuch as there is no force present to counteract this un-' balanced air. pressure," the struts willturn, as pabove desc'ribed, and will consequently maintain a thorough distribution offfthe f-lubricant over their bearing surfaces In case there is atendencyfor the couplin'g to whistle, dueto' its high speed of; rotation, a laterally extending flange maybe" provided on the periphery of one of the disks for "the purpose of' closing the space invention are as follows: First, there is no between the disks.

. 'It'will, of course, be understood that the entire coupling will be inclosed within a stationary housing or cas ingprovided with a; lubricant discharge passage, and that this casing will tend to eliminate the possibility of whistling.

In Fig. 5, I have-showna modified form of coupling in which an ahead set of struts only is employed. The strut mounting lugs are so formed on each disk that they directly cooperate with each other while the coupling is driven in 'a reverse direction. In order to prevent redundance in the coupling illustrated in Fig. 5 and also in the couplings illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, it is desirable to have slight circumferential play between the two disks so that the inactive set of struts will rest free in itsbearing recesses while the other set is effective in transmitting power. This is shown in Fig. 5, as a clearance'space between the lugs 6 and"? and a similar clearance between the lugs 6 and 7. The size of the clearance space is j greatly exaggerated for convenience of illus tration. l 1

The advantages gamed byv employing my redundance since the construction is such thatfeach lug of the active .setwill carry its proportion of the load, when the coupling is employed in connection with a flexible reasonable limits.

shaft such as described inrthe patent to which I have referred. Second,'there is no hand work necessary on the coupling and it is perfectly balanced. Third, the pinion and the coupling member secured vto its flexible shaft, can. be 1 readily lifted out of operativewrelation with the other coupling member without destroying the adjustment ofithe'remaining coupling member or the relative adjustment between the pinion and the coupling member mounted on its flexible shaft. Fourth, the contacts are surface Icontacts. and may readily be made of ample size to transmit the forces encountered. Fifth,

the. strutsbeing short and relatively light, the centrifugal force may be kept within ugal forces is in a fixed direction at each contact and the bearing pads can be readily disposed so as to IHOStQBfiGCtlVGlY take care of this reaction. Seventh, the centering of the coupling is accomplished by'means of the struts and they also obviate side movement. "Eighth, where the coupling is employed in connection with a pinion such as has been referred to, there is perfect freedom of longitudinal movement of the pin- Sixth, in marine work the resultant of the driving andthe centrifion. Ninth, in such an installation inwhich a flexible shaft isemployed, there is a perfect freedom of angular displacement of the axis of the flexible shaft relatively to the axis of the turbine shaft.

" Having now described my invention in without longitudinal displacement, and a.

power transmitting strut located between each lug on one member and one of the lugs on the other member.

a 2. A coupling comprising two members each having apertures formed therein, and each provided with two laterally projecting lugs havingv laterally extending recesses and operate with the lugs of the other member, and a separate bearing pad mounted in the laterally extending recess formed in each lug and projecting through an aperture in the lug supporting member, and having a strut engaging recess formed insaid pads;

each lug on one ofsaid members being opera-, tively connected to a lugon the other memher by one of said struts. p

120 so arranged that'the lugs of onemember col and-"eachprovided with two'laterally-pro-r jecting lugs, a separate power transmitting:

3, couplingicomprising two "rotatable members having apertures formed there1n,-

and each: provided with two laterally pro-.

j ectingstrut supporting-lugs,la power trans-.3 mitting strut extending between each lug on onemember and alug on the'othermem-fi her, and: a bearing pad for each strut mounted on each lug and withdrawable laterally through an aperture in the lug sup porting :member.

4:; A coupling comprising "two rotatable 1 members having; apertures formed: therein,

strut, v havingltwo substantially partially spherical heads, operatively"connecting each lugof one member rwith a lug of the other e' member, a separate pad mounted on each lug .and having a strut receivingrecess, each 2 pad being removable through an I aperture in its mounting me'mbers for the releasing the struts. v I a,

5. A coupling comprising two rotatable members, .each provided with two laterally purpose of projecting lugs, the lugs of onemember being adapted-to cooperate with the lugs ofthe other'member; in transmitting power, I and I being "so spacedncircumferentially' with,

,relationto the-5 diamjetric i distance between the lugszonthe 'otherimember, and of such; a lengththat' one; member may be lifted" free ofthe other;

6; In combination with a couplingcomw prising two rotatable members. each having laterally projecting lugs adapted to cooperatein transmitting power,a power trans mitting'strut locatedbetween alug of one member and'a lug of the-other memberv andprovided-with means for causing it to turn {on its-bearing face while transmitting power."

thereof, said pads ,5 being arranged i at right Aficou plingi comprising two'rotatable members; each provided with :laterally pro-a j ecting'ip'ower transmitting lugs, a strut 'between-each two lugs: fonetransmitting the power therebetween, and: means for-deliver ing an oil spray'i nto the:space betweenisaid members and to'thefstruts'.@

-8'. A coupling comprising twomem'bers};

eachprovided with? a :set of; strut supporting so I lugs, astrutlocated-between each two lugs}.-

I power transmitting jstrut extending between eachlug on one member; and a lug. on;the. 5 other member, and-a bearing pad for each r t m ed Whine an u mW able laterally through anaperture in'the lug supporting member, the said recesses in said a. uppor i memb e n adapte -7o for receiving-the; end of: I at strut when "the bearing pad is withdrawnvthrough an apiergi v ture so as to allow said strut ,togbe removed,

1 A strut for transmitting power, have ing vspherical ends, oil i grooyes .formednonsaid ends and passageways through the strut communicating: with the outer. ends' thereof for supplying'dubri cant-thereto;

Intestimony whereof, -;Ij;l1avee hereunto. subscribed my namethis -l'lthv'dayof April, .80 1916. r

flopie: of this patent may be obtained 'for flve 'centseachQby, addressing;flifigoinmissioner of if a telnts. {I

' Washing-tem le. 

